Screams and gasps echoed across the small town. People were rushing down the dirt roads toward the Adventurer’s Guild to see what the loud commotion was all about. Meanwhile, Isaac was walking calmly down one of those streets, heading in the exact opposite direction of the chaos.

​’That guy saying shit like he wanted to help someone because someone didn’t help him in the past,’ Isaac thought, feeling incredibly annoyed. ’In my mind, what he just described is exactly what a hero is, and to make matters worse he doesn’t even know it.’

"Hey... you!" a voice called out.

​Isaac stopped and turned to see who it was.

​A large-framed man standing in the doorway of a nearby building was looking at him. He wore an eyepatch, had a thick beard, and wore a dirty kitchen apron while casually holding a large butcher knife.

​"You seem to be coming from the Adventurers Guild. Did something happen over there to make all these people rush in that direction?" the large man asked.

​Isaac stared at the older man for a second and said, "There is a lunatic fighting a large guy with a build like yours who was carrying a giant axe around."

​"A lunatic and a guy with a large axe, huh?" the man said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "And when you say he has a huge body like mine, do you by any chance mean Friggy?"

​"I don’t know his name, and I pretty much don’t care," Isaac said bluntly.

​"You’ve got a bad mouth on you, huh?" the man laughed, looking at Isaac. "You must be new here if you have no idea who Friggy is. Ain’t you hungry? I run an inn here," he added, pointing at the building behind him with his knife.

​’ I was actually searching for an inn,’ Isaac thought. "Sure, I could go for a quick meal," Isaac replied, feeling a bit relieved.

​"I also have open rooms here. One night is just fifteen silver coins," the man said with a wide, smile.

​"What? Fifteen silver? That is way too much," Isaac frowned. "Looking at your inn, it doesn’t look like much at all. A normal inn in the major cities costs five silver, so why would yours cost more in this crappy town no less?"

​"Ha-ha-ha... is fifteen silver really too much? I originally wanted to say twenty, but I just gave you a friendly discount," the man said, still smiling.

​"Friendly discount, you say? Well, good luck finding a customer with those crazy prices," Isaac scoffed, immediately turning around and walking away from the old guy.

​The old man just stared at Isaac walking away and smiled. "Well, good luck out there! Just be back here before eight at night. That is when I close the shop!"

​’What is that crazy old guy yelling about... it’s not like I will come back anyway,’ Isaac thought, ignoring him.

​—Meanwhile, at the Guild—

​"How could this be?" one villager gasped.

​"Are his arms really strong enough to withstand Friggy’s axe like that?" another murmured.

​The entire crowd kept murmuring in complete shock. They could not believe Ian had withstood a direct, Aura-infused strike from the heavy axe with his bare flesh.

​"Dammit... I’m gonna make you pay for this!" Ian yelled. Ignoring the pain in his forearms, he rushed at Friggy with his explosive physical strength, instantly becoming a blur.

​Swoosh!

’Huh... wh-where did he go? I can’t even see him! Was he not using his full strength this entire time?!’ Friggy thought in pure panic. ’He was just playing with me!’

"Where are you looking at, gorilla? I’m right behind you," Ian’s cold voice whispered from his back.

​"Die!!!" Friggy roared, desperately swinging his heavy axe backward. But there was nothing there. Just as he finished his wild swing, Ian appeared right behind him again. Because his arms were deeply wounded, a strange, black energy smoke was actively leaking out from his torn flesh. With all his might, Ian threw a brutal punch.

​’Shit, I can’t dodge that!’ Friggy thought in terror. He hastily pulled back his axe, using the broad side of the thick iron blade as a shield to block the punch.

​"Do you really think that can stop me?!" Ian shouted, a crazed, battle-hungry smile forming on his face.

​’I know I can’t block you with pure strength, but my Aura can!’ Friggy thought, frantically flaring his red Aura all over the axe to reinforce it.

​TINGGG!!!! The sound of the impact was exactly like two massive boulders of solid metal crashing together. The shockwave kicked up a huge cloud of dust everywhere. Friggy was pushed sliding backward through the dirt, barely holding his glowing red axe intact.

​"What the hell is with your raw strength?! Are you a Fourth or Fifth-Stage Aura User just pretending to be weak by not using your Aura?!" Friggy yelled at Ian. ’But why can’t I sense any Aura from him at all? Is his level really that high?’ The dust quickly settled, revealing Ian still standing in place, casually checking his bloody wrists.

​’Aura huh... When I fought with Alvin back then, I thought maybe my weapon was just defective. But now I’m sure of it. A weapon imbued with Aura can cut through almost anything, depending on the user’s proficiency. Since I can’t use Aura and can only rely on my physical body, it basically means ordinary iron weapons are useless in my hands against these guys, and what happenedearlieris a perfect example for it’ Ian thought, looking down at the blood dripping from his open cuts. ’And yet, for some reason, his Aura can easily cut through my skin, but it cannot go any further to pierce my forged bones.’ Then, thick black smoke began leaking out of his open wounds bit by bit.

​’This is the same energy I felt when I broke through to the Bone Cultivation stage. Because my skin is torn open, the raw energy from my forged bones is literally leaking out into the air,’ Ian realized, observing the dark mist. ’It isn’t giving me any extra physical strength, but it is naturally blocking the Aura of his axe. It isn’t visible to many people and I don’t think these guys can see it, but I can feel the wounds slowly healing themselves. Also the moment this black mist started bleeding from the cuts, the pain completely vanished. At least I’m not at a disadvantage.’

"Hey, gorilla—" Ian said, suddenly vanishing from where he stood. "Can you block this, too?!" he roared with a wild look in his eyes, instantly appearing right in front of Friggy.

​’Shit, did he just get even faster?! No... I’m the one reacting slower. Tch... it is because keeping my Aura constantly active is making my body sluggish. I have to end this quickly! But him ...this kid is completely crazy! Where is all this physical strength coming from? Doesn’t he have stamina restrictions like Aura users do?!’ Friggy thought, desperately strengthening his defense and keeping his axe glowing red.

​TINGGG!!

"I thought you were gonna attack, but staying on defense is fine too!" Ian mocked. He violently punched the flat of the axe again and brutally pushed Friggy backward once more, while more black energy simply bled from Ian’s torn knuckles.

​"This time, let’s go all out and see exactly how long you can hold on!" Ian said, relentlessly continuing his assault on the weapon.

​TINGGG! TINGGG! TINGGG!

Ian kept fiercely punching Friggy’s axe in the exact same spot over and over, not giving the large man a single second to counterattack. The sheer force of the physical shockwaves was so intense that the crowd standing behind Friggy hurriedly scrambled away so they wouldn’t get caught in the blast radius.

​"’Dammit... dammit, how long can he keep attacking?’ That is what you are thinking right now, isn’t it? I know I’m right because I can see it written all over your pathetic face!" Ian taunted.

​His face was splattered with drops of his own blood, and his fists were completely coated in a mixture of gore and the leaking dark mist. If one looked closely at Ian’s battered hands, they could even see the stark white of his unbreakable bones peeking through the torn flesh.

​"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have enough stamina to keep this up all day!" Ian yelled with a crazy laugh.

​"Aaagh!! You crazy asshole! Forget about your stamina and look at your hands! Can’t you feel even a bit of pain?!" Friggy screamed in absolute panic. Deep bags had formed under his eyes, and he was sweating and breathing heavily from complete exhaustion.

​"Stop worrying about me and look at yourself! Besides, I don’t think this little weapon of yours is gonna hold tog—"

​CRACK! SHATTER!

Before Ian could even finish his sentence, the thick iron axe suddenly exploded into dozens of sharp fragments, completely destroyed by Ian’s bare fists.

​’Shit... what the hell is wrong with this monster?! He actually shattered an Aura-infused axe with his bare hands! I’m completely fucked now... Should I just run away?’ Friggy thought, his mind going completely blank with terror.

"Guess I spoke to soon. What are gonna do now gorilla now that your toy is broken." Ian said with a crazy smile.